Ancient D&D 20-sided Die in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns what may be the world’s oldest d20 die. It’s made out of serpentine and looks to be in remarkably good shape for its age.

The die is a little over an inch tall. The symbols carved into the die appear to be of Greek origin, in keeping with it coming from the Ptolemaic Period.

The symbols for eta, theta, and epsilon can be clearly seen. Maybe it was used to determine which frat the ancients were going to pledge, but I’d like to think it was used to roll for hit points for warrior and sphinx classes. Now all we need is for someone to 3D-model this so we can print it out and make up our own ancient Egyptian version of D&D.

Historical evidence validating the Lord of the Rings and D&D mythos continues to pile up. We also have evidence that prehistoric hobbits traveled half the world, probably on a quest to destroy the Ring of Power. And, as I have previously pointed out, scientific evidence for the existence of vicious trolls is readily available right here in the comments section of this and other blogs. Can proof of the existence of elves, dwarves, orcs and dragons be far behind?